FORTVILLE — The entire season came down to one penalty kick with five minutes remaining in regulation, and it was the Pendleton Heights girls soccer team on the losing end.
A questionable call against Kristen Sylvester gave New Palestine the free shot and led to a 2-1 Dragons victory in the Mount Vernon Sectional championship on Saturday evening.
Sylvester appeared to make a clean, aggressive play against New Palestine’s Jessica Box, but she was called for a penalty. Box kicked it to the far right and scored easily after PH freshman goalkeeper Kinzie Davis dove left.
Arabians’ head coach Brian Simpson was visibly upset with the call, but refused to comment on it.
However, when PH looks back on this match, it will probably be more disappointed with missed opportunities in the second half than anything else.
After the Dragons tied the score at 1-1 in the 57th minute, the Arabians missed a couple of clean looks.
“Their defense was solid, but in the second half we had two or three shots that we just barely missed and should have gone in,” Simpson said. “We had our opportunities. I know we outshot them. We had quality shots, and they made some saves, but there was a couple of times that the ball bounced around and we just couldn’t find the back of the net.”
PH had defeated the Dragons 2-1 during the regular season in a heated Hoosier Heritage Conference match. New Palestine head coach Dana Merrick said the film from that match helped his team beat the Arabians on Saturday.
“We dissected that (film) on Friday, and I really think that helped give the girls confidence they could beat them,” he said. “We didn’t play well against them before because Pendleton is a strong, strong team. Tonight was our night.”
The teams had been evenly matched for most of the first half, with a single play separating them on the scoreboard. The Arabians’ Kaitlan Wiles ran after a ball on the New Palestine side of the field and quickly closed in on the goalkeeper. After Amanda Curry dove on top of the ball, it squirted away from her, leaving Wiles all alone for the goal.
Other than that, there were very few scoring opportunities for either club. The Dragons managed just one shot on goal in the half while PH had three. Most of the action took place near midfield because neither defense gave up any sort of edge.
“All season we’ve been hard to score on,” Merrick said. “It’s been our offense. Tonight the offense came through and got us the goal we needed.
“Our defense is extremely quick, and they rely on each other to back each other up.”
PH will lose six seniors next season, but Simpson was confident his younger players will step up. He said this season has been positive for the program, and he believes the future is bright.
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